Searching for me on the internet was not as fun as I thought it would be. Not because I was shocked or surprised at what I found but more from the lack of what I did not find. The only thing that related directly to me was on Pipl and that gave my address and the names of some of my family members. If you wanted to pay a fee the site claimed they would give you more detailed information about me, but for free it was nothing that you could not find in a phone book.
I decided to use “all” of my names when my first search of Christina Inman did not produce much. I searched Christina Arlene Inman, Crissy Inman, Christina Arlene Brooks and Crissy Brooks. I found a lot of information about a Christina Inman who lives in CA and is in the real estate business. There is also a Christina’s Ice Cream in Inman square in Boston, which is kind of cool since my in-laws live in that area and we visit once a year. The ice cream shop is definitely on my list of things to do the next time I am visiting the East Coast.
There was one disturbing thing that I found when I did a search using Christina Brooks (my maiden name). Apparently there is an adult film star named Christina Brooks. I can reassure you and anyone who may read this or come across a site containing this information, that it is not me!! I don’t think that it would cause me to not get a job, but if my students were to ever find out my maiden name and did a Google search on me they would find this. It was all over Google and there is really nothing I can do about it. In this profession a bad rumor can ruin your career or at least put doubt in people’s minds.
I don’t think that it is always fair that people are held to a higher standard because of their profession but it is the way it works in this country. It almost seems that the more important job you have the higher you are held and the less you get paid. Maybe not in every situation, but in my case it seems that I keep finding myself in a place where I am held at a higher standard and not paid very well. I am not complaining about that because I have chosen to be where I am and I would not have it any other way. I do think that it is very important to keep your private life private and completely separate from your professional life. Especially with children, who tend to exaggerate and blow things out of proportion.
Hi Crissy, it was really easy for me to find a negative link on the web. There are convicted murderers in Washington and the UK that share my name. Luckily both of them are still in jail, so hopefully there is no confusion.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that our world does seem very backwards, the people with the least amount of responsibility recieving the best paychecks (professional wrastlers). When I think about my conduct as a teacher I always reflect upon my mother-in law. She combs the newpaper for any story that may in some way affect our family. So any newstory about teacher misconduct, of course, ends up in front of me. When I am a teacher, everyone is going to know what I do pretty much. So I will be asking myself this question "Do I want my mother-in law to know?"
I too agree with you that we need to keep our private lives private! Many feel that you need to share everything with your students, to build the bond, but there are other ways of building that in your classroom.
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